Implementation process of a journal management system: Information world journal and open journal systems

Abstract

Journal management systems are tools that provide standard, central and transparent management of publication processes in scholarly journals. These systems present the products which are outputs of publication processes in a form that allows machine interaction. They also facilitate the communication of the actors involved in the process. On the other hand, the implementation phase of these systems can differ accoding to journal's publication processes. This requires customization of design and structure of systems. This study discusses the implementation phase of a journal management system that was installed on the servers of Information World journal about eight years ago to manage publication processes. Additionally, the transition of Information World journal to journal management system is highlighted by presenting sample screenshots of previous web pages of the journal. Furthermore, based on the experiences related to installation and maintenance of Open Journal Systems in Information World Journal, the study emphasises the points that should be taken into consideration about similar system implementations. In conclusion, it is stated that the customizations that will be made to meet requirements of the journal's publication processes or to improve its look, should be designed in a way that not to be affected by new updates of open source softwares such as Open Journal Systems.